PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Thomson, James A. AU - Itskovitz-Eldor, Joseph AU - Shapiro, Sander S. AU - Waknitz, Michelle A. AU - Swiergiel, Jennifer J. AU - Marshall, Vivienne S. AU - Jones, Jeffrey M. TI - Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Blastocysts AID - 10.1126/science.282.5391.1145 DP - 1998 Nov 06 TA - Science PG - 1145--1147 VI - 282 IP - 5391 4099 - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/282/5391/1145.short 4100 - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/282/5391/1145.full SO - Science1998 Nov 06; 282 AB - Human blastocyst-derived, pluripotent cell lines are described that have normal karyotypes, express high levels of telomerase activity, and express cell surface markers that characterize primate embryonic stem cells but do not characterize other early lineages. After undifferentiated proliferation in vitro for 4 to 5 months, these cells still maintained the developmental potential to form trophoblast and derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers, including gut epithelium (endoderm); cartilage, bone, smooth muscle, and striated muscle (mesoderm); and neural epithelium, embryonic ganglia, and stratified squamous epithelium (ectoderm). These cell lines should be useful in human developmental biology, drug discovery, and transplantation medicine.